Bhubaneswar: The housing and urban development department is now taking steps to strengthen the newly formed Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) that was reformed from the Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Services Limited to strengthen urban transport services in the capital region.

CRUT was formed to cater to citizens' need for city bus service in Bhubaneswar that will now include neighbouring Konark and Cuttack. The earlier avatar of the transport body only included Puri and Bhubaneswar. The department will now engage a consultant to make plans for CRUT's functioning.

"CRUT was formed in January with a new board structure and jurisdiction to provide transport services. It will be responsible for providing transport facilities within the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Cuttack Development Authority and the Puri-Konark Development Authority area," said a housing department official.

He said a programme management consultant would be engaged to assist in managing and monitoring the activities of bus operators so that the services are delivered as contracted and in a safe, orderly and efficient manner. This would to allow the new transport body to achieve the highest standards in its operations.

At present, CRUT has a fleet of 110 city buses in operation. The state government will introduced 200 new buses to its existing fleet as part of its overall strategy to improve sustainable mobility in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri by September.

"We want to deliver better, more efficient and popular bus service to the people of the capital region. The connection to Konark, Cuttack and Puri will not only help daily commuters, but also incoming tourists on a larger scale. The objective is to have better control of city bus operations," said Bhubaneswar mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Besides strengthening the fleet and jurisdiction, the authorities are also taking steps to increase the number of bus depots along with tje development of an inter-state terminus at Baramunda.

"There are plans to set up at least 10 bus depots in different parts of the city, lands for which have already been identified by the general administration department. Some of the lands have been encroached upon and we are taking steps to make those available for the project. Under CRUT, the entire service will be revamped," said the mayor.

Residents also welcomed the move to expand the service. "It will help a lot since the tourist places will get bus connectivity," said Debabrata Dash, a resident of Patia.